Walnut Creek voters will get the final say Tuesday on whether Neiman Marcus can bring its furs, diamonds and $5,000 crystal-studded handbags to a downtown mall.

Rival developers and a cast of former mayors have pitched a costly battle over Measure I, which would allow the high-end Dallas retailer to open a two-level store at Broadway Plaza.

Opponents say the store will lead to traffic and parking headaches, while those in favor say the city desperately needs the $400,000 in annual sales tax revenue Neiman Marcus would generate.

At issue, also, is the development process in the Contra Costa County suburb and the rights of developers to influence local policies, both sides say.

"I am appalled that someone whose interest in Walnut Creek is between zilch and nil can come into this community and wreck it," said former Mayor Gwen Regalia. "Taubman, clearly, is willing to spend a whole lot of money to break our community."

Taubman is a Michigan real estate firm that owns 25 malls nationwide, including Sunvalley Mall in Concord. Taubman has spent $687,000 to defeat Measure I and filed several petitions and referendums to stop the project, saying the city offered Neiman Marcus an unfair break on parking requirements.

Regalia and others say that the real reason Taubman is on a campaign to stop Neiman Marcus is because the company wants the store to open at a planned mall development farther south in San Ramon.

Taubman would not comment on whether there were plans for a San Ramon store, but Neiman Marcus officials said Tuesday they are set on Walnut Creek.

"We fully intend on opening a store in Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek," said Ginger Reeder, Neiman Marcus vice president of communications. "The citizens of Walnut Creek will determine if this is possible with the upcoming vote."

Meanwhile, the owner of Broadway Plaza, Macerich, has spent $1.4 million to help pass Measure I, hoping Neiman Marcus will join Nordstrom and Macy's at what it bills as "the crown jewel of East Bay opulence."

When the proposal arose, the city allowed Neiman Marcus to curtail parking requirements. Measure I amends the city's municipal code to allow valet and stacked parking for mall employees, and requires the developer to pay for transportation, street and parking improvements downtown.

That's not enough, Measure I opponents say. The planning process was flawed and possibly illegal, and the parking solutions proposed in Measure I are insufficient, said former Mayor Ed Dimmick.

"Having Neiman Marcus here doesn't matter to me one way or another," he said. "But I don't think it's right for the city to be bending the rules for one development."

Parking is already difficult downtown, and another department store will only aggravate matters, he said.

"We have parking and we have places people want to go, but those aren't necessarily the same thing," he said. "If people can't get around downtown easily, they won't come anymore."

Downtown Walnut Creek has about 7,000 spaces, most of them in free garages. Street parking costs 50 cents to $1 an hour.

Even on the busiest shopping days, only 85 percent of downtown spaces are full, Regalia said.

The city needs to do what it can to encourage Neiman Marcus, she said.

"If our shopping area can't compete, you'll start to see other high-end stores leaving, too," she said. "We'll be left with Uncle Joe's used motorcycles as an anchor."